The space of the essay does have edges, but the edges are a little bit ragged and open.
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Best of 2025
Welcome to December, readers! Once again, we’re revisiting the favorite nonfiction stories that defined our year—the pieces that moved us, reframed our thinking, or even nudged us to action. Each week, it’s a joy to read and recommend writing that lingers long after we’ve closed our tabs. This year-end collection celebrates the most thoughtful storytelling […]
Posted inFeature
Best of 2024: Our Most Popular Stories of the Year
Our 10 most-read Longreads essays of 2024.
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘Here I Gather All the Friends’: Machiavelli and the Emergence of the Private Study
“Reading is a form of necromancy, a way to summon and commune once again with the dead, but in what ersatz temple should such a ritual take place?”
Posted inAnnouncements
Announcing Our 2025 Member Drive
It’s easy to think that thoughtful longform journalism is an endangered species. We refuse to believe that—and we need your help.
Posted inEditor's Pick
How Losing My Limbs Turned Me Into a Different Kind of Cook
“Two years ago, our cooking columnist Yewande Komolafe woke from a coma and soon learned her body would be profoundly altered. She recounts her journey back to the kitchen, and to herself.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Why Are TV Writers So Miserable?
“On the cusp of a potential strike, writers explain why no one is having much fun making television anymore.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Feast Your Eyes on Japan’s Fake Food
“However persuasive they might be as facsimiles, shokuhin sampuru are subjective interpretations, seeking not only to replicate dishes but to intensify the feelings associated with the real thing.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Tim Robinson and the Golden Age of Cringe Comedy
“His sketch show, ‘I Think You Should Leave,’ zeroes in on the panic-inducing feelings of living in a society where we can’t agree on the rules.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Stet: On Cutting—but Keeping—Everything
“I prefer to keep my darlings on ice.”
